Dr Reddys Laboratories on Tuesday posted 3 per cent year-on-year fall in profit at Rs 302.20 crore for the quarter ended March 31.
The pharma major had reported a profit of Rs 312.50 crore in the corresponding quarter last year.ETNow poll estimated Rs 373-crore profit for the quarter under review.Revenues inched lower to Rs 3,534.90 crore in Q4FY18 over Rs 3,554.20 crore last year.
ETNow poll had predicted sales of Rs 3,554 crore.The board of the company recommended a final dividend of Rs 20 per equity per share on face value of Rs 5 each for financial year 2017-18.
Expenses on research and development (RD) stood at Rs 435 crore in Q4FY18, which was 12.30 per cent of total revenues.
Gross margin came in at 53.50 per cent during the quarter against 56.30 per cent in Q3FY18 and 51.20 per cent in Q4FY17.Commenting on the results, CEO and Co-chairman, GV Prasad said, We concluded a challenging year for Dr Reddys Labs with a relative muted fourth quarters performance.
This was mainly on account of continuing headwinds in the US market and a temporary drop in sales in Russia, attributable to a shift in the channel purchasing pattern.Looking ahead, we will continue to work diligently on resolving pending regulatory issues.
We will also focus on accelerating new products to market and improving our approval process, he added.